The Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation is recruiting for a Project Coordinator.

Job title - Project Coordinator
Reports to - Communications and Member Services Manager or Executive Director
Project - JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Social Acquisition Project
Status - Term, starting as soon as possible, until June 30, 2023
Hours - 15 hours per week (depending on start date);

Program Objectives

The JEDI Social Acquisition Project will work to strengthen the network of expertise within the Social Innovation and Social Finance (SI/SF) community serving equity-deserving groups such as, but not limited to: women, Indigenous, LGBTQ, Newcomers, Visible Minorities, people with disabilities and youth to encourage and promote new equity-deserving individuals and groups to join the SI/SF community specifically in the areas of early innovation and social research and deeper integration with SI/SF Ecosystem investment readiness capacities and programming. Social acquisition means the conversion of conventional businesses to co-operatives and other enterprise models in the social and solidarity economy (Social Purpose Organizations or “SPOs”).

The project’s specific objectives are to:

• Build tailored social acquisition awareness and education resources for equity-deserving groups (buyer-side and seller-side audiences);
• Curate a list of free and paid services and service-providers for buyer side, seller side, and sustaining social acquisition cases;
• Convene a network of Social Purpose Organization (SPO) and Small and Medium-sized enterprise (SME) service providers committed to leveraging social acquisitions as a solution for increasing the Social Finance capacity of equity-deserving groups;
• Collect and support potential seller-side and buyer-side social acquisition cases with early stage consultations.

Activities

Months 1 to 2

• Create project steering committee;
• Hold first project team meeting to ensure that everyone is informed of project scope, schedule, and their respective duties and responsibilities;
• Develop two or three internship positions for undergraduate or graduate students representing equity-deserving groups;
• Create a communications and marketing plan and develop communications materials in both official languages;
• Attend relevant conferences led by equity-seeking groups and present information on IRP opportunities; and
• Develop surveys to gather both quantitative and qualitative data for the project evaluation and develop an evaluation plan.

Months 3 to 5

• Research and produce accessible online one-pager introductions to the various types of social acquisitions and highlight specific cases in which equity-deserving persons were involved;
• Form a messaging partnership with engaged organizations/individuals to help amplify communications and marketing;
• Recruit and hire student interns;
• Conduct environmental scan and build an online database of self-identified social acquisition service providers across Canada
• Design and deliver one peer-learning session for the SPO/SME service providers to increase their awareness of and capacity to support social acquisition cases;
• Travel to Vancouver to attend and facilitate the planned session at the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation (CWCF) annual conference; and
• Hold monthly Steering committee meetings.

Months 6 to 12

• Arrange for SPO/SME service providers to offer pro-bono or discounted services to active cases;
• Invite cases to convenings to interact with and learn from service providers;
• Set up a dedicated web form for social acquisition cases to submit assistance requests; and
• Partner with the University of Waterloo, and potentially other colleges, universities and/or other partner organizations to offer free topic-based consultations with business school student teams.

Qualifications

Skills:

• Post-secondary education and/or experience in Project Management would be desirable.
• Connections within communities serving equity-deserving groups.
• Previous experience managing and leading projects including organizing, coordinating, planning, and maintaining schedules and controlling a number of projects.
• Proven ability to set priorities, solve problems and meet deadlines under pressure.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate with all levels of staff, stakeholders and the general public.
• Demonstrated ability and experience with Microsoft Office Suite.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to maintain relations with equity-seeking communities.
• Administrative skills.

Desired skills:

• Familiarity with the co-operative and social enterprise models.
• Bilingual English-French.

Working conditions

As a remote worker, the Project Coordinator will provide their own office space.

The position would typically be during work hours, require some evening and weekend work for attending events and networking. Some travel required specifically, at minimum, to attend the CWCF conference in Vancouver in November 2022

Compensation and benefits:

• Salary : $24/ hour.
• Vacation: 2 weeks; also 5 days of Personal Time Off plus 9 Statutory holidays.
• Computer will be provided.

Accommodations

Job accommodations will be provided as appropriate to ensure success in the role.

Eligibility and guidelines:

CWCF is an equal opportunity employer committed to representation and inclusion. We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds, including underrepresented groups in the co-operative sector such as BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, youth and those with lived experience including cultural backgrounds and languages representative of our nation’s complex history. CWCF values and honours the lived experience candidates may bring to this position, please feel free to highlight these attributes mentioned above in your application and/or interview process. We do not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, class, religion, or sexual orientation.

CWCF thanks all candidates for their applications. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

To Apply

Please send resume and cover letter to Rebecca Smyth, Executive Assistant, exec-assist at canadianworker.coop

Application deadline: July 17, 2022.